HELLQUIST RELEASES THE HOUNDS AS SAINTS LOSE 7-3

ST. PAUL, MNAugust 12, 2017

After a game two victory the St. Paul Saints were met with strong pitching in Sioux Falls Canaries starter Bo Hellquist and fell 7-3 at CHS Field on Saturday night in front of 9,249. The Saints dropped to 42-35 and are tied for second in the North Division with the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks. They are now 4.0 games back of the Winnipeg Goldeyes and 4.5 games out of the Wild Card.

In just his second start of the season, Canaries starter, Bo Hellquist got better as the game went along. After giving up three runs in the first three innings, he allowed just one hit after the third. He allowed three runs on four hits while walking two and striking out four during his 7.0 innings of work.

The Saints got on the board in the first inning after Danny Oh reached on a leadoff walk. JJ Gould moved him to second with a single to left field then a fly out by Nate Hanson advanced Oh to third. Anthony Gallas fouled out to the right fielder Jabari Henry. Henry made an accurate throw to the plate but Oh tiptoed around the catcher, Gretz, and tagged the back tip of the plate to score the first run of the ballgame.

The Canaries answered back in the second inning. Henry reached on a leadoff walk then stole second base. He advanced to third on a single by Chris Jacobs. Henry scored on an RBI single to leftfield by Tyler Wolfe, tying the game at one. A sacrifice fly by Aaron Gretz scored Jacobs which was followed by an RBI single from Blake Schmit and the Canaries led 3-1.

The Saints capitalized on another leadoff walk in the bottom of the second inning. Kes Carter reached on the free pass and Tanner Lubach moved him to second after his groundball went through the legs of the third baseman and into leftfield. Tim Colwell’s RBI single scored to make it 3-2.

The Canaries tacked on another run in the third after Burt Reynolds reached on a one-out single. He swiped second base then scored on an RBI single to leftfield by Jacobs, extending the Canaries lead to 4-2.

The Saints final run of the game came in the third inning when Gallas hit his 19th home run of the season over the left field wall to pull the Saints to within one run and make it 4-3.

In the sixth Patrick Fiala hit a solo home run off Saints reliever, Jeff Malm, his fifth of the season to extend the Canaries lead to 5-3.

In the ninth, with the Saints trailing 6-3, Jabari Henry blasted a leadoff home run off of Connor Little, his 19th of the season. Little pitched the final 3.0 innings, allowing two runs on two hits while walking two and striking out two.

The same two teams meet tomorrow night for the series finale at CHS Field at 5:05 p.m. The Saints send RHP Ryan Zimmerman (5-5, 5.14) to the mound and RHP Grady Wood (6-2, 2.89) will make the start for the Canaries. The first 2,000 fans in attendance will receive a foam mitt presented by the Minnesota Corn Growers Association. Kids can run the bases and fans can get team autographs on Chevy Family Fun Sunday. The game can be seen on the Saints Cable Network, cable access channels in and around the Twin Cities, and heard on Club 1220 KLBB.